Just cleaned my old Shimano DX SPD'S (and still with original cleats too - can you say loads of lovely float 1 lol) , and it got me thinking:
My pedals are 14 - 15 years old, and have genuinely been ridden EVERY day, they've been on EVERY bike I have owned in the last 15 yeras..
They've taken me to school, College, My First Job, Uni and some pretty awesome MTB spots in between, they've survived Rain, Snow, Ice Mud, plenty of abuse, and a couple of big crashes.. plus me hammering them.
And do you know what? there perfect, still nice and smooth, despite the only maintenance they've ever had being a squirt of GT85 once in a while.
I've also got a similar Vintage Ritchey Vector Logic Cro-Mo (Wooooo Hoooo) leather saddle that's been right there on the same bike's and thrills and spills as the pedals!
So what bits of kit have you got then that just refuse to die ?
Can we name bits of clothing - cos you'll get some true antiques then 🙂
No real auld components for me - spd pedals probably the most venerable of my stuff also, 7/8 years old something like that.
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1991 Cinder Cone with 1991 rear mech and shifters still used for 25 mile a day commute. Could do with some love at the moment though!
The wheels that are on my Inbred now came with my 2001 Stumpjumper. So, 11 years old or so & still going well. The hubs (WTB) have never been apart, although the rear sounds grumbly as anything. It still runs fine and I reckon it's better now to just keep it going, rather than take it apart!
My 520 SPD pedals must be from about 2002 or so, perhaps early 2003 so they have done pretty well!
I have my dad's old Carlton racer from the 60s that I still use
so way over 40 years
I have a Hope rear hub that's about 8 years old now. It's not currently on a bike but it's been heavily used in the past. New bearings, bit of grease, good as new.
16 year old shimano qr on my full suss. 16 year old crud catcher on my hardtail......
Bike? 1992 Klein Fervour. Pair of 1992 Cook Bros cranks on it too, rest of kit is 95 to 98.
flite saddle atleast 12 yrs old now
Front mech on my good bike must be 20 yrs old -
My legs
XT 730 'beartrap' pedals from 1987 on commuter. Still spin smoothly with no play 🙂
2006 Magura Louise FR brakes. Still boss.
Shimano m737 SPD's, got for my 15th birthday, used 10 years, retired just came out of retirement for a build, still running nice!
(Oh I'm just 29BTW, happy birthday my pedals!)
Chris King headset from 1998, so 14 years old now. Must have been in about 10 frames. It has the original top cap, bearings and cups but a new crown race and bearing cover, so a bit Trigger's broom in that respect. Plus it's more purple than black now.
GB
till recently it was an old hope mono and ti road hub set ... but the rear freehub ate its self and it was a ti freehub body- looked like no freehub id ever seen before that even hopes employees today claim to have never seen before - but did confirm that it was a hope hub....... and the front hub flange snapped shortly after 🙁
got a set of old blue raceface turbines on my fat bike they are ancient
My disc brakes - a set of the original Hope M4's - probably 10 years old by now (?)
Other than new pads & fluid, in all that time have only had to replace the seals and one of the lever blades.
Or, my Chris King headset - had it for over a decade, still pretty much as good as new.
The rear tyre on my work bike is a Continental Grand Canyon from about 1994. Not sure how many more times it'll survive being taken off and put back on again as it looks a bit dodgy by the wire bead. But it's still got loads of tread.
Work bike is a 2004 GT Avalanche with original Deore fornt and rear mechs so they're quite old now aswell.
XTR 960 crankset - 2006, been on 4 bikes and probably done in excess of 10k miles
Brilliant! so its pretty true that the Old stuff is still "the best" compared to some of the modern super light weight stuff!
I've also got a 1998 GT Xizang Ti frame fitted with the much despised by many (BUT LOVED TO BITS BY ME!!) Quasar Number 1 linkage forks (Factory Prototypes don't you know!! ) Oh and that bikes also fitted with a set of Spinergy Rev X Roks Carbon wheels... Truly retro. Its my Daily commuting bike in the summer but gives way to the Whyte PRST1 "works" in the winter.
If I could post images, I would show you it in all its glory!
I don't know how you manage to get SPD pedals to last that long, I find the cages wear to the stage that, even with brand new cleats it starts getting very tricky to unclip. 😕
I don't know how you manage to get SPD pedals to last that long, I find the cages wear to the stage that, even with brand new cleats it starts getting very tricky to unclip
Nor' me i'm actually amazed they've lasted so long... considering they get a blast with the hose, and a squirt of oil if there lucky... and as for clipping in / out. No problems thaty still hold nice and tight, and have that satisfying CLUNK when you dock into them. There great.
Got an old Campag Record front shifter on my CX bike. It moves bikes freqeuntly. I think its from the 70's. works fine on ever bike it goes on.
WTB SST 98 saddles - two of them still going strong after 13-14 years.
Me 🙁
Syncros cattleprod stem which came on my 1991 Rocky Mountain Blizzard is still in use on my Singlespeed.
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A Shimano STX hub from my 1995 Kona Lava Dome is still alive, well, and runs smooooooth with NO servicing in any of that time. It's now on my commuter. It has had a decade probably of non-use, but it hasn't gone solid during periods of non use.
Saying that, the whole wheel is off that same bike....
they used to last quite a long time then I discovered the joys of singlespeeding. Wrenching every last bit of torque you can out of the pedals transfers over to geared riding as well but trashes pedals and cleats in no time.I don't know how you manage to get SPD pedals to last that long
Milremo Professional saddle. Bought in 1982 from Mandy's Bikes in Rochdale shortly after she (Mandy Jones) had won the Womens' World Champ road race. I now run it on my GT rigid. 30 years old this year.
An orange Flite saddle bought at Bike 96. It has been on 5 bikes and is held together with super glue. It is now sat in my brand new road bike.
my local motion dominator reflex gloves 😀 [IMG] 
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I've got a 97 fire mountain.
I've also got some late 90s Red caged DX pedals.
I have a Mk1 Bulb on the back of my DH bike, you kow the ones with the Disc mounted on a spider, thats got to date from about ~1998/99?
None of these things were new to me but they've all had a fair bit of use and are still going strong...
Some old bits are still awesome and unsupassed by even by the kit that replaced them, others are just too well made to fail and need replacing, most are heavier than current equivalents though....
Oldest item that I regularly use is my 1988 Kona Explosif (well, the frame and forks are from 1988, everything else is a lot newer).
The wheels and gear levers on my winter road bike. Came with the racer I bought s/h in '93 (which was a couple of years old I think). Gets used most days, and have been in regular use for all that time. I think they're the only remaining parts from that still in use.
got some bits that i don't use all that much like my missy giove saddle.
my original rear crud guard comes out every winter, had it for half my life! also my 'can't afford a proper bike' tee of the same era. 😀
c. 93 XT thumbshifters still in use on my main MTB. Also got a 94 cannondale tourer, original gears/brakes etc, which gets used almost every day, but prob doesn't count as road stuff lasts way longer than MTB gear.
Other stuff that's gone the distance: hope hubs, middleburn cranks, royce BB, marzocchi marathons - all c. '02, kona lava dome '96, magura louise brakes '05, all still in regular use
Early 90s Suntour XC Pro 8 speed thumbshifters on my only bike. They were an upgrade from 7 speed. I've never run 9 speed...
I have a windproof top ,baselayer, fleece and paclite jacket.
All by Karrimor.
Must be over 10 year old now.
My main road bike is a Raleigh Carlton Supercourse from the early 80s (before I was born). Now built up with modern wheels and groupset.
My Pug road bike is 30 this year. I've some original XT (737?) pedals circa 1991 still in service, Blackburn MTN Shorty pump from 1999 & I have no idea how old the Nike Poobahs that are sat in the garage are - possibly the same age as the pedals.
04 shimano dx pedals, 8 years of abuse and they are still my main pedals..
Control Stix bar ends from 1991.
Onza porcipaws grips have moved to my main bike since 1994. Nice and slim for small hands. As one person remarked on seeing them "I've got all the suspension I need in my grips".
Other old stuff such as original SPDs (525s and 737s) are still in use on retro bike.
Clothing? Karrimor gilet and polartec 100 base layers are twenty years old. the stitching has just gone in my Orange Pertex shell. That's the black one covered in lots of Oranges. Not sure of the age, 1996?
My 1949 Hobbs fixie is quite old .The brake lever is even older . A 1976 Shitmano Crane rear mech is the tensioner on my single speed On one
My legs! Thirty eight years old in a couple of months time and in pretty good nick, or so I'm assured. They've managed to see me through eleven bikes, thousands of miles and dozens of crashes but they're still here.
I have absolutely no kit of an age that would compete with some of the posters here, it's really good to know that stuff some of you bought in the 80s/90s is still going strong.
early 90s 525 SPD pedals and XT thumbshifters here
so that's roughly 20 years with (common pattern here?!) 10 years of less frequent use but mud and races and all before and now more or less again
SPDs never had any service until I found one being pretty loose recently, put new grease into both, didn't look too shabby inside, run smooth again but now start having a problem clipping out (any cure for this?)
thumbies no service and work faultless with 8speed XTR and Gore Ride-ons
A vintage Helly base layer
Some shimano shoes that are almost dead
A 1970's Dawes Tamdem
A 1970's Track bike
Son1 rides a 1998 Marin Mount Vision (1 year younger than himself)
Mine is an XTR M-952 chainset. IT's about 8 or 9 years old
A pair of Lusso thermal bib tights used for every winter since around 1990.
One of those Muddy Fox handlebar bags designed for the original twin stems which I've had since 1986 and now sits in my backpack to hold odds and ends.
Wot no DCDs?
or crud claws
Flite ti railed saddle c 1996 - do they still make them ?
San marco Rolls on the road bike c. 1992 but hardly usedvin recent years
My shopping/utiliy bike is a c1990 muddy fox hybrid which sees regular use
2002 xt shifter pods still going strong
I'm just about to retire the frame from my '99 Marin with it's lovely 'pingy' Columbus tubing. Would have kept it but need something a little tougher (and with discs on the back). Replacing it with a frame that kinda reminds me of my old Bonty...
Trelock D-Lock I've had since 1995. Sadly the bikes it kept safe over years of commuting in London and Glasgow have all been sold on. It's had about three squirts of WD40 in all that time and still works as well as it did the day I bought it. The most amazing thing about it is that I've never managed to lose the key for it.
Actually on the bike, mechanically speaking, the oldest thing still used on a regular basis are 2003 Hope Mini brakes, which still work perfectly well and still look better than all Hope's over-designed looking new stuff.
1998 Marin Pine Mountain frame & original LX V-brake levers are part of the commuter that is in daily use. Still got the old stem, somewhere.
I can hear the squeaking of all these old Marins in my nightmares
just bought an ancient XT V-brake ('95..?) from ebay for stopping duties on the thinglespeed..
fitted it today and it made me wonder why I ever changed to disk brakes..
awesome
M732 XT thumbshifters and mechs on my commuter hack, along with an original Crud Guard (the one with the upright supporting legs).
1995 Pace for me, made singlepeed and using RC36 forks. My Winteractive jacket has also had some use in the last few days, although I considered digging out my '97 Buffalo. i was then reminded the the Buffalo's thong strap is not best suited to out of condition 43 year old backsides.
i was then reminded the the Buffalo's thong strap is not best suited to out of condition 43 year old backsides
I'm chafing just reading that sentence. Unfortunately I know *exactly* what you mean